Das Ungeheuerliche und Unheimliche im Hotel: Über die Dysfunktion der Architektur in W. G. Sebalds Die Ausgewanderten und Die Ringe des Saturn
Tianxue HanDie literarischen Werke Die Ausgewanderten und Die Ringe des Saturn von W. G. Sebald sind fiktive Werke mit biographischen und historischen Bezügen. In beiden Werken wird ein namenloser Ich-Erzähler eingeführt, der kontinuierlich reist und auf Relikte und andere Menschen trifft. Es werden verschiedene Genres wie Reisebericht, Tagebuch und Erzählung in den Werken miteinander vermischt. Diese Abhandlung konzentriert sich auf das Ungeheuerliche und Unheimliche in den Hotels, die in Sebalds beiden Werken vorkommen, und versucht zu argumentieren, dass in der Darstellung der Hotels eine unheimliche Wahrnehmung entwickelt wird. Ausgehend von Vilém Flussers Theorie der ungetreuen Dinge und Sigmund Freuds Erklärung des Unheimlichen werden die verfallenen Hotels als ein epiphanischer Ort betrachtet. Die Hotelgäste vor dem Zweiten Weltkrieg und vor dem Holocaust erscheinen wie Gespenster, mit denen der Erzähler kommunizieren kann. Dadurch wird der Erzähler unaufhörlich in die Geschichte des Hotels, von seinem Aufblühen bis zu seinem Verfall, hineingezogen. Die Narratologie des Raums erzeugt folglich eine einzigartige Ästhetik, die es dem Erzähler ermöglicht, in den verschiedenen Ruinen und nutzlosen Gegenständen zu verweilen und gleichzeitig eine kritische Kraft zu entfalten. Durch die verwobene Erzählung von Reiseerfahrungen, des Holocausts und der Mythologie schafft dieDarstellung des Raums einen neuen surrealistischen Bedeutungsraum. Dadurch erscheint der entzauberte soziale Raum wieder verzaubert. Dies stellt einerseits den Mythos des technologisch systematisierten, perfektionierten und abgeschlossenen Fortschritts durch seinen Verfall in Frage, was Sebalds Kritik an der Zivilisation repräsentiert.
Monstrous and Uncanny in Hotels: On the Dysfunction of Architecture in W. G. Sebald’s The Emigrants and The Rings of Saturn
Tianxue HanThe literary works of W. G. Sebald, namely, The Emigrants and The Rings of Saturn, possess biographical and historical undertones while incorporating fictional elements. These works feature an unnamed first-person narrator who embarks on journeys, encountering remnants of the past and interacting with various characters along the way. These literary works feature an amalgamation of various genres, such as travelogue, diary, and narrative. This article aims to investigate the uncanny and monstrous sensations evoked by the hotels depicted in Sebald’s works. The argument contends that the hotel space’s representation cultivates an uncanny perception. Drawing upon Vilém Flusser’s concept of “unfaithful things” and Sigmund Freud’s elucidation of the uncanny, the dilapidated hotels are construed as epiphanic locations. Its pre-World War II and pre-Holocaust hotel guests take on an apparition-like quality, allowing them to communicate with the narrator. Consequently, the narrator is captivated by the tales of the hotels, which are characterized by both prosperity and decline. The narratology of space engenders a distinct aesthetic, compelling the narrator to ruminate on the various ruins and seemingly useless objects, while unleashing an internal critical force. Through interwoven narrative threads that encompass travel experiences, the Holocaust, and mythology, the representation of space establishes a novel surrealist realm of significance. As a result, the disenchanted social space appears enchanted once again, thereby challenging the myth of technologically systematized, perfected, and accomplished progress through its deterioration. This decay serves as Sebald’s critique of civilization.
Traveling and the experience of being in a foreign place are recurring themes in Sebald’s works, which may be influenced by his own life experiences as an emigrant andwanderer. This research aims to analyze the representation and interpretation of space, particularly in relation to abandoned hotel settings, to understand the unique spatial experience and perception created inW. G. Sebald’s texts. This study situates itself within the interdisciplinary and hybrid nature of Sebald’s works, which cover diverse themes and discourses, including trauma, memory, image, melancholy, and home. Although extensive research has been conducted on the temporal dimensions of Sebald’s texts, particularly history and memory, the spatial representation and perception in his fictional works remain largely unexplored. This study aims to fill that gap by analyzing the uncanny perception of space that Sebald’s narrators develop upon entering the realm of abandoned hotels.
This paper examines the habitation of hotels and the portrayal of space as cultural phenomena through the lens of cultural studies to investigate the historical contexts and individual perceptions interwoven therein. Regarding the comprehension of spatial arrangements within hotels, this paper employs the theoretical analysis of Vilém Flusser’s notion of “unfaithful things” and Sigmund Freud’s clarification of the concept of the uncanny. These conceptual tools are used as pivotal points of reference to elucidate the distinctive rapport between individuals and architectural structures in Sebald’s literary works. The former represents the unique material properties in the ruins of Sebald’s hotels and the inversion of the human subject object in this space. The latter points to the restrangeness of the perception in the individual experience of the social space in Sebald’s narrative, and the new space of meaning that emerges from it.
The study contends that Sebald’s narrators develop an uncanny perception upon entering the space of abandoned hotels, resulting in a unique aesthetic that emerges from lingering in various ruins and useless objects. The failure and dysfunction of the architectural structures and objects play a significant role in Sebald’s texts. Moreover, the disruption and reversal of human subjects’ dominance over objects generates ambivalent tension between humans and things. The narrators’ reactions to this relationship are depicted as they venture into forbidden areas, such as abandoned industrial zones or desolate hotels. The interactions between the narrator and the buildings, as well as the hotel staff, are frequently met with resistance, leaving the narrator feeling alienated and observed in these empty architectural spaces. By examining specific textual passages, this study reveals instances where the failure of objects and the intrusion of the narrator intersect. The description of dysfunctional keys, overgrown paths, and abandoned hotels, as well as the discomfort felt by both the narrator and the hotel staff, emphasizes the spaces’ abandonment and malfunction. The narration of these ruins’ exploration generates tensions between repression and intrusion, resulting in a complex spatial atmosphere. There are irreconcilable tensions between the individual’s existential experience and influences beyond individual knowledge, between the individual’s experience and structural conditions, and between logic and insanity. When the individual experience no longer corresponds to history, discrepancies and reconfigurations of the place’s time occur. This implies that a unified view of history is undesirable, as it is overshadowed not only by continuity but also by numerous unrelated and even unrecognizable forces. Hybrid memory can actively contribute to the development of the hotel and urban space. The city beneath the walker’s feet is no longer an empty, frozen map and geographical coordinate, but rather a personal space intimately associated with life experience. Therefore, it dwells onthe associations triggered by the uncanny perception of the hotel ruins, resulting in a unique aesthetic experience that embodies Sebald’s distinctive spatial storytelling.
This study aims to demonstrate how Sebald’s narrators acquire an uncanny perception upon entering the realm of abandoned hotels, thereby generating a distinctive aesthetic and critical force. The analysis of spatial representation and perception in Sebald’s works sheds light on the relationship between humans, architecture, and objects, illuminating the broader thematic concerns of his texts.
